Persicaria wallichii |
Persicaria glabra |
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garden knotweed, garden smartweed, Himalayan knotweed, Kashmir plume |
denseflower knotweed, smooth smartweed |
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Habit | Plants perennial, 3–15 dm; roots also often arising from proximal nodes; rhizomes present. | |
Stems | decumbent to erect, usually branched distally, without noticeable ribs, glabrous or, rarely, pubescent distally, sometimes glandular-punctate. |
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Leaves | ocrea light brown, cylindric, 12–23 mm, chartaceous, base inflated, margins truncate, eciliate, surface glabrous, usually obscurely glandular-punctate; petiole 0.2–2 cm, scabrous; blade without dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, lanceolate, (10–)15–30 × (1.5–)2–5.4 cm, base tapered, margins glabrous or antrorsely strigose, apex acute to acuminate, faces glabrous or scabrous along midveins, sometimes glandular-punctate. |
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Inflorescences | mostly terminal, sometimes also axillary, erect to slightly nodding, usually uninterrupted, 30–100 × 5–9 mm; peduncle 10–50 mm, glabrous or scabrid, glandular-punctate; ocreolae usually overlapping, margins eciliate. |
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Pedicels | erect to spreading, 2–5 mm. |
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Flowers | (1–)3–8 per ocreate fascicle, homostylous; perianth greenish white to white or pink, glabrous, not glandular-puncate or glandular-punctate with punctae ± uniformly distributed, scarcely accrescent; tepals 5, connate ca. 1/3 their length, obovate, 3–3.6 mm, veins not prominent, not anchor shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded; stamens 5–7, included; anthers pink or red, ovate; styles 2, connate proximally. |
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Achenes | included, dark brown to brownish black, biconvex, 2–2.2 × 1.3–1.6 mm, shiny, smooth. |
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Persicaria wallichii |
Persicaria glabra |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Nov. | |
Habitat | Swamps, wet thickets, marshy shores, frequently in water, mostly on coastal plain of e North America | |
Elevation | 0-300 | |
Distribution |
CA; MA; OR; BC; Asia
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AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; SC; TN; TX; VA; Central America; South America; Asia; ne Africa; Pacific Islands (Hawaii, Philippines)
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (1 in the flora). Persicaria wallichii is an ornamental that escapes infrequently in the flora area. A population in Nova Scotia apparently was ephemeral. Plants with leaf blades sparsely to densely pubescent abaxially and pedicels glabrous are var. wallichii, to which naturalized North American plants appear to be referable. Plants with leaf blades brownish-tomentose abaxially and pedicels usually pubescent are var. tomentosa S. P. Hong, which may be in cultivation in North America. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
American plants here included in Persicaria glabra often have been treated as distinct and called P. densiflora. The morphological differences between them and Asian and Pacific P. glabra are minor. Regional tendencies exist but do not appear sufficient to warrant separation of the species (K. L. Wilson 1990b). An infusion made from pounded whole plants was used by the Hawaiians as a blood medicine (D. E. Moerman 1998). Persicaria portoricensis Small and Polygonum portoricense Bertero ex Small are superfluous and illegitimate names that pertain here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 581. | FNA vol. 5, p. 586. |
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Rubrivena | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Persicaria |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Polygonum polystachyum, Aconogonon polystachyum, Pleuropteropyrum polystachyum, Reynoutria polystachya, Rubrivena polystachya | Polygonum glabrum, P. densiflora, Polygonum densiflorum |
Name authority | Greuter & Burdet: Willdenowia 19: 41. (1989) | (Willdenow) M. Gómez: Anales Inst. Segunda Enseñ. 2: 278. (1896) |
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